The secret she hides
by strippedink
Summary: Every ounce of physical strength had abandoned her yet no physical marks revealed trauma at any level. To someone else walking by, it seemed as if Bonnie was intoxicated with alcohol. She looked perfectly healthy. But she was not. Bonnie Bennett was dying.


The day had started as normal as so many others before. At precisely seven in the morning, the alarm clock rang quite rudely in her ear, yanking her abruptly from the next plane of existence— the land of dreams. With a groan, she rubbed the sleep away from her eyes. And then, in absolute silence, she made a mental list of everything she needed to care take of during the day ahead. Classes, lunch with Caroline and Elena (if she ever managed to unglue herself from Stefan's arms) and finally work. All of it before she was allowed to return home.

She was tired before the day had even started.

Reluctantly, she rolled out of bed whilst ducking the first rays of sunlight invading the intimacy of her bedroom through the slit between curtains. She had always felt the most comfortable in utter darkness. Her mind still under the influence of sleep, bare feet caressed the floorboards as she sashayed toward the bathroom for a quick shower, losing pieces of clothing in her wake.

Barely fifteen minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom with steam pursuing her body as if calling for her return. Beads of water rolled down her naked flesh and dangling hair, she was a vision yet she had never been confronted with her sensuality. Perhaps it was her fault, Bonnie rarely flaunted attributes gifted by good genes and Mother Nature. Her curves and the confidence exuding from her witched every males' attention as she passed by. In fact, Bonnie's beauty rivaled her best friends' but the girl remained completely unaware of said fact.

Sporting casual clothing beneath her black leather jacket and knee-high boots to match with her skirt, the young witch followed her every day routine religiously. First stop, Whitmore College. Inwardly cringing, a zombie-like version of her forced herself to venture through the halls before achieving entry into the room where her first lecture took place. Time dragged itself through its continuum the same way a limping man would have. So, in a desperate attempt to coax time into revealing its most merciful facet, Bonnie took notes avidly until the rhythm of the lecture slowed down. Impatiently, she tapped fingernails against her notebook while her gaze shifted between the clock hanging in the wall and the professor who now allowed students to inquiry him about the subject of the day.

She couldn't begin to understand the reasons behind her impatience. As if she had to be somewhere else but there. Refusing to delve deeper into her premonitory sensation tugging at the strings of her heart in the most painful of ways, Bonnie buried every ounce of horror that threatened to take hold of her and proceeded with her day as planned. After suffering through the following two hours and a half of classes, she met with both Elena and Caroline for a shared meal where the trio exchanged words about the day's gossip and boys, laughter and even a couple of genuine smiles.

And only at the end of the next four hours of work at a local store back in Mystic Falls, a period time spent restlessly with crippling thoughts that robbed her of breath, worry started to consume Bonnie on her way to the parking lot where she had parked her car. Her fingers curled about the handle of the car's door when flashes of images hindered her vision before knees collided against the pavement as she struggled for breath.

It took her around solid five minutes to have her back supported by the car. Every ounce of physical strength had abandoned her yet no physical marks revealed trauma at any level. To someone else walking by, it seemed as if Bonnie was intoxicated with alcohol. She looked perfectly healthy. But she was not.

Bonnie Bennett was dying.

Drowning in panic, convinced death would make an appearance before she managed to express the love she held for her friends, she plucked her phone from the jacket's pocket with the intent of texting the one creature that would possess the knowledge to help her escape from this predicament. Three letters were sent. SOS. Soon, Acheron Parthenopaeus would stand before her. Or so she hoped. Inside her chest, the beating of her heart slowed down into a dangerous rhythm, her organs would fail next.

Haunted by unfinished businesses, Bonnie cursed her own existence for being so idiotic and naive once upon a time. Death is upon her and she could only blame herself for it. The Universe worked in mysterious ways, and the fates wicked sense of humor mocked her poor choices in the past. Bonnie's blindness and belief in the purity of love had lured her into the deadliest traps of all. As a being made of magic to do magic, the young witch had used her talents to experience her emotions on a deeper level. And all while conscious about the dangers of casting such a hex on herself.

That spell reemerged to bite her in the ass before hauling her to the valley of the dead, even if she kicked and screamed.

The sudden flash of blinding light indicated Acheron's arrival. He merely took a heartbeat to inspect the scene that greeted his presence. And without a word, the tower of 6'8'' of lean muscles bended toward her before rescuing her from the ground and flashing both of them to her place. Once he had carefully laid her across the couch, those haunting swirling silver eyes searched for answers.

"What's going on, Bonnie? I can't help unless I know why I just found you half dead but without any injuries," the enticing rumbling of his thick accent teased her ears while her gaze encountered his.

"I-I was... stupid," she struggled to deliver words as breath faltered within her lungs. "The spell... a secret... it linked... life force," seemingly random words fell from her trembling lips.

Acheron quickly connected the dots. Sucking in a breath of horror and admonishment, those eerie eyes of his landed on her again. She swore she could see the entire Universe through them, the wisdom she found in them went beyond her imagination. Distracted in the intensity of his gaze as lines of evident worry resurfaced along his forehead, Bonnie secretly appreciated that she wasn't entirely alone in her deathbed. In one last gesture, she pushed her arm upward so her fingers grazed the side of the handsome man's face. His fingers closed around hers immediately before squeezing them.

"I'm not letting you die because of this crap!"

Summoning ancient powers that belonged to the Source, unparalleled powers that surpassed Bonnie's magic, the atmosphere grew heavy with untapped power. Beads of sweat lined alone her hairline as Bonnie held onto life with metaphorical claws.

She wasn't going to die just yet.

Wielding powers her own imagination couldn't fathom, Ash's fingers touched her cheek lightly. The touch had been brief but the burning sensation persisted. Every nerve inside of her craved the unleashing of the heat searing her from within. And she screamed. Until her throat couldn't make another sound.

When she finally settled, that previous agony tormenting vanished into thin air as if it had cleansed her from her own stupidity when in truth, it had just overpowered the workings of a magic that was no match for Acheron's abilities. Too exhausted to move, she buried her head into the pillow as her eyes grew heavy with each second.

Straining to talk, she beckoned him forth but no perceptible sound of words left her. He immediately pressed fingers to her lips.

"Shh, we will talk later. Rest your body now, Bon."

Innocently, she kissed his fingers before presenting him with a tormented smile for she knew another creature was in equal agony, close to death, somewhere in Mystic Falls. Bonnie didn't last long after that as she dove into slumbering waters.

Fin.


End file.
